Rumor mill already has linked Brian Kelly to Lions

Weeks before Lions vice chairman Bill Ford Jr. chose the “no comment” option when asked whether coach Jim Schwartz needs to have a big season in 2013, the rumor mill already had been grinding.

As the theory goes, if the Lions don’t turn it around this year, Schwartz will be out and the Lions will pursue Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly.

Kelly flirted with the Eagles after the BCS national title game, before deciding to stay at South Bend. It’s now believed that the CEO of Notre Dame Football, Inc. will eventually jump to the NFL.

Before coaching at Notre Dame and the University of Cincinnati, Kelly spent 20 years in Michigan, serving as an assistant at Division II Grand Valley State from 1987 through 1990, head coach from 1991 through 2003, and then head coach at Central Michigan from 2004 through 2006.

At least give Schwartz all the tools he needs so that he doesn’t have an excuse for failure. If there is anybody on the coaching staff or mngmt team that deserves a break, it’s Jim Schwartz. He COULD be a good coach, he just needs the right team around him to help him with the off-the-field stuff that he is weak at, as well as a GM that will give him the coaches and players he needs to be successful. And it’s the GM’s job to figure out what does he need and our GM has made all the wrong choices regardless of whether Jim had preferences or not.

Jim is NOT the GM, Martin Mayhew is, and that’s the guy that needs to be fired first if the Lions want to right this ship and play some serious football of the highest of quality.

I am not a Schwartz fan or a Mayhew fan. I really would be very unhappy to see Brian Kelly take over as Lions coach. It would set the organization back even further. Bring in a G.M. like Floyd Reese or Pat Kirwan then a proven coach like Marty Schottenheimer or Bill Cowher. Or someone with some NFL success like Ray Horton, Mel Tucker or Mike Zimmer. Brian Kelly? Ridiculous!

I think this team will be pretty damn good this year. If not I think if I am wishing for, or praying for a coach replacement it would be to drag Bill Cowher out of retirement while we still have guys like Suh Fairley, Stafford, CJ, and the promising Ansah. I know I left a lot of talent off but didn’t want to go on and on since we went 4-12 last year. LOL

The lions have the lovable loser role down, except for the lovable part. Why mess with what’s not working?

motorcitydiddy says:Jun 5, 2013 12:21 AM

I don’t know how Cubs fans can stand it. Losing Sucks.
It’s like a never ending football folly video. Amusing at first but after a few minutes its just bad football.

mshawn75 says:Jun 5, 2013 1:08 AM

Wow. Detroit can’t be stupid enough to fall for him. Anyone remember Lou Holtz’s NFL stint? And if he is as “NFL ready” as the QBs that have come out of there lately… well 4-12 will seem like a championship season.

I fully expect the Lions to improve under Jim Schwartz. He has more talent now than he did the last 4 years prior. I expect to see a 10-6 record or better with the kind of talent that team has. They just need to put it altogether on the field.

If there’s one thing that the ownership has proven it’s that they don’t look that far ahead – in fact, they had a record of not looking ahead at all.

Since you have a theory, I have a feeling. I think that the Leos, beginning this season, will improve a great deal from last season. Maybe 9-7 or 10-6.

They are kinda stuck with giving Mayhew and Schwartz more time because the big names still aren’t interested in hitching their reputations to the Lions. But, this is the first time in decades that the Leos have continuity with progress up top. They did steadily improve since this regime took over, with last year being an exception.

There are things I like about Schwartz, but after watching every Lions game under his tenure my main complaint is that he’s to vanilla, predictable, whatever you want to call it, week in and week out.

He’s anti blitz, because the d-line is supposed to bring pressure (and there is some statistical data to back this up, the Lions blizt less than 95% of the NFL) but when the secondary is getting lit up maybe an adjustment or two. If the d-line isn’t getting the pressure someone like Rodgers get way too comfortable.

That’s just one example. It’s not about blitzing, it’s about his unwillingness to use deception on offense too. The 9ers always bust out a deceptive play from Harbaugh’s QB bag of tricks, and they’re clearly the better squad. Jim is a smart guy, but I feel it works against him to a degree, and he has poor judgement on when to take risks. Sometimes it’s not the play you run, it’s the surprise element of the plays you run. The opponent needs to be kept off guard to a degree.

I don’t undertand how Scwartz is a lame duck or even on the radar screen. This Kelly crap is just that crap. He has a team and a contract.

Schwartz should have been fired at the end of the season. You have 8 number one picks on your team and a ton of free agents and you win what five games? No other teams fire coaches who do this unless its year one.

If they’re saying the coach is great but the team sucked last year then whats the talk of Kelly?

I often look at the Lions roster and think ‘someday the lights are gonna go on..

… but then I remember a Matt Millen-hire is running the team.

jimmylions says:Jun 5, 2013 1:39 PM

This is a non-issue. The Lions will be winners this season.

Bucs fans gave us a lot of support last season and told us to expect exactly what happened. They also went from being a joke to being a top NFL team, but that involved one very bad season after their first good season.

The guy to watch this year is Broyles. When teams overcommit to stopping Megatron, Broyles will rack up big numbers.

well guys none of that’s going to happen lions are going to the super bowl.They have a stacked football team all those top five picks are going to finally payoff.Top five total defense, top five total offense, and middle of the road special teams. Calvin Johnson,Suh,Stafford,Louis Delmas,Glover Quinn,Reggie Bush,Brandon Pettigrew,Stephen Tulloch,Jouque Bell, Nick Fairley,Tony Schefflur. All players teams like New England, San Fran or Seattle would take in a heart beat just to name Few.